Akram Hasson

Akram Hasson (2 July 1959-) was an Israeli Druze politician who was the first non-Jewish politician to lead a Jewish party, in this case the centrist Kadima party.

Biography
Akram Hasson was born on 2 July 1959 in Daliyat al-Karmel, the largest Druze town in Israel. Hasson completed his national service in the IDF from 1978 to 1981, and he worked as Director of Youth and Sports at a local council. After being a high school teacher, he became Deputy Mayor of Daliyat al-Karmel in 1989, a post that he held until 1998. In 1996 he graduated with a BA in education, and from 2002 to 2008 he was Mayor of Karmel City. In May 2012 he replaced the late Gideon Ezra as a member of the Knesset (Parliament). He was rewarded the Hebrew Writers Association award for making it so that all signage and abroad speeches had to be in Hebrew. On 28 January 2015, he was made the new leader of the Kadima party after Shaul Mofaz's retirement, and Hasson became the first non-Jew to lead a Jewish party, as well as the first Druze leader of a Jewish party.